pike Archives - Scotia Fishing

Positive fishing season in Scotland 2020

September 24, 2020/in Uncategorized/by Callum Conner

Despite the uncertain times the fishing in Scotland this year post lockdown has been very positive, if not world class at times!

Firstly, it has been immensely encouraging to teach so many newcomers to the sport of fly fishing over the summer. Families, ladies, children, boys & men – I truly hope this continues!

This particular youngster below managed his first ever capture on a fly rod, a solid Rainbow Trout.

This was during a 2 hour lesson with SGAIC instructor & head guide Callum Conner after learning the roll and overhead cast within 30 minutes!

A chunky bow in the net for this young first time fly fisher!

There is no doubt after coming out of Lockdown we had missed the best of the dry fly fishing on our rivers. However, the lack of angling pressure saw us return into a bonanza first few trips as the trout were eager to take just about anything we threw at them!

Panamanian Student Isabelita had an outstanding day with a bunch of big trout and grayling on her first ever fishing trip!!

The Sea Trout fishing has been exceptional on the Tweed. One can only presume the positive effects of net removals etc. On the back of any lift in water levels we were connecting with some very chunky caesars!

I even managed a cast myself at times…

What a fight of this lively bright Sea Trout!

I have observed most of Scotland’s rivers are fishing well this season but most related to us has been the salmon fishing on the River Tay & Tweed. July & August were the best I have witnessed in my time of Salmon fishing on the River Tay.

Our clients done well on the river with the most memorable day being father and son duo Peter & Bertie managing 3 Salmon and 2 Sea Trout – not bad for your first foray into Salmon fishing!

Here is Bertie with his first ever Salmon!

Returning client Derek fished with me five years ago and was great to see him back! After losing his first fish on a spinner right at the net, he changed to the fly and landed this hard fighter!

As we move into Fall/Autumn our attentions will turn to the Upper River Tweed for Atlantic Salmon along with some Pike fishing in the Highlands with lures, fly and dead-baits when the cooler temperatures set in.

A flawless 20lb plus Pike caught a couple of weeks ago by our Head Guide

So safe to say we are looking forward to the colder weather and searching for a few crocs in both species!

As the morning frosts increase it will then be time to target one of our favourite species, Grayling! For anyone it may be of interest we made this short film last winter about Grayling fishing on Scotland’s iconic River Tweed!

Anyone looking for casting tuition and guiding services get in touch – we still have availability for the rest of the season and prospects look good!

Callum Conner

Best Pike Fishing in Scotland Near Edinburgh

April 11, 2020/in Pike, Uncategorized/by Callum Conner

Scotia Fishing have access to some of the best Pike fishing in Scotland near Edinburgh!

Edinburgh is a fantastic location to visit in Scotland. The city has all you would ever need as a tourist visiting Scotland. Beautiful architecture, historic streets, palaces, castles, a beach and one of Europe’s best cities for food and drink!

It also benefits from being ideally situated only one hour from beautiful countryside and some of the best Pike fishing!

Best Pike Fishing Guides

Scotland is a bit of a sleeping giant when it comes to Pike fishing. When you think of Scotland, you will likely think of Atlantic Salmon fishing. Scotland is the home of Salmon fly fishing, so we can fully understand this thinking.

However, we feel the Pike is the underdog, If the Salmon is the king, the Pike is the prince!

Our Head Guide Callum Conner is recognised as one of the best pike fishing guides in Scotland.
He’s been a fanatical Pike angler from a young age. Covering the length and breadth of Scotland to amass a wealth of knowledge on Scotland’s best Pike lochs and when it is best to fish these lochs.

During this time he has built up a respectable record of large 20lb plus Pike captures. He’s also one of only a hand-full of anglers in the country to have caught a wild of Pike of over 40lbs! (image above)

Using this experience we will guide you on carefully chosen venues to suit your experience.

Best Pike Fishing Lochs in Scotland near Edinburgh

Pike fishing in Scotland will take you into some of the most beautiful scenery the country has to offer. Fishing the iconic Scottish glacial lochs with roaring stags and aggressive tail walking Pike to interrupt the tranquility.

The glacial lochs are the ultimate challenge for the visiting Pike angler. Due to their size, local knowledge is paramount to success.

A good guide will use his experience to assess the conditions and how best to fish the loch. This will maximise your chances of success.

The glacial lochs are the best for larger Pike. We recommend booking a minimum of three days to give you the best chance at landing a 2olb plus specimen!

We’re fortunate enough to have come across some lesser known private lochs and have gained privileged access for our clients.

These private lochs have some of the best Pike fishing in Scotland near Edinburgh. Big numbers of hard fighting Pike can be caught here all year round.

These lochs have fewer 20lb plus Pike, but lots of sporting Pike in the 4-10lb class which are outstanding on light gear and fly!

Best Fishing Methods to catch Pike in Scotland

Spring Pike Fishing

In early spring the Pike can be be lethargic until the water warms up. During this period we will fish for Pike with bait (dead-baiting) during the morning session.

After lunch we will try fishing from the boat with lures and flies in shallow to medium depth water. Using a depth finder to locate the drop-offs from shallow bays into deeper water with sinking fly lines.

Once the water has warmed up and the Pike have spawned by mid to late May we will fly fish from the boat with 9ft #9 fly rods from Loop Tackle and streamer style flies or for spinning anglers we use light lure fishing rods 7ft in length rigged with fixed spool reels, braided mainlines equipped with an array of soft plastic, spinner baits and surface lures from Sakura-Fishing.

best-fly-fishing-for-pike-in-scotland-near-edinburgh

Summer Pike Fishing

Summer pike fishing is our favourite! This time of year we can find the Pike in shallow areas and sometimes sight cast to them with surface lures and surface flies. This is the best way to catch pike in Scotland!

Pike will often bow wave chasing fast stripped flies just subsurface. At this time of year your guide will use the Minn-Kota engine to manoeuvre quietly into position for you to reach the sun-bathing Pike!

Autumn/Fall Pike Fishing

Autumn/Fall see’s us revert back to Spring style tactics for pike fishing. As the water cools so does the Pike’s willingness to chase a bait. This all depends on the climate at the time. It is Scotland – so very hard to predict!

As October approaches the Pike will be slowing down and lure fishing opportunities become restricted to the warmer mid-day before eventually resorting to dead-baiting all day.

Winter Pike Fishing

We fish for Pike using dead-baits mostly from October to April. This method involves fishing with static baits.

Using a variety of different frozen baits we cast into the loch at various areas using a selection of rods to cover a suitable area. As the baits thaw the scent permeates into the water.

The Pike has a very advanced sense of smell and will sniff out the baits, sometimes very quickly. On its day, this is a very effective method and large catch days are possible.

Has this post wetted your appetite to try some Pike fishing?

Read our reviews on Tripadvisor about pike fishing near Edinburgh.

For more information on Pike fishing trips in Scotland, you can contact us via the “Contact Us” button at the top of the page.

Summer Fishing in Scotland 2016 Update

August 22, 2016/in Fishing Reports, News/by Callum Conner

The 2016 Summer fishing in Scotland is almost coming to an end – where have the months gone!
Apologies for the lack of updates with the blog, we’ve had a lot going on at Scotia HQ.

We’ve had a very positive season with many clients visiting from across the globe including USA, Canada, Australia, Europe and Asia. Our summer has been rather cold, which although not so pleasant for those visiting the country on vacation, has made for better fishing conditions!

Scotland in summer, it takes some beating for natural beauty!

Late spring and summer period has seen some great fishing spells for all species, particularly salmon. The Tay has received consistent runs throughout the summer months with many multi sea winter Salmon mazing an appearance throughout the river system.
The lower river has fished particularly well from July onwards, with some beats having their best July for over a decade!

Returning the new record Salmon landed 18lbs of Tay silver!

Our clients felt the rewards of this with some good catches. The highlight of the bunch had to be returning customer Jacopo (only 13 years of age) landing a Tay powerhouse 18lb Atlantic Salmon!

Kid Catches 18lbs Salmon From River Tay Scotland! from Scotia Fishing on Vimeo.

This young man is a little superstar!

Also having a great day was big Sebi from Switzerland with a stunning brace of Tay silver on the fly! Not bad for your first time ever Spey casting!

A few “woo hoos” were in order!

His girlfriend also lost two spinning – what a day that could have been!

With the colder weather our rivers fished very well and we had much better brown trout fishing than last year. We picked up a number of nice browns on nymphs during this period.

Robert (Rab) aka 603 Fly Guy with a nice brown on the Euro nymphing set up!

I had a great day out with Robert on the river chatting about all things fishy – the fishing was as good as the banter also!

Cody had a cracker right at the close of play, proving it pays to fish hard to the end!

Cody’s new PB Brown Trout on the Frenchie…

As well as the ever obliging and very welcome Grayling…

Rafael’s first ever Grayling!

The Hill loch brown trout fishing has been hit or miss, on the colder days it has almost felt like winter up at these higher altitudes, putting the fish down. We have still managed to catch a few though!

It can be cold up on the tops of these hills. Still as beautiful though!

Leonard had some good sport fishing traditional Scottish wet fly tactics.

Leonard with an average wild brown trout…

The Pike fishing has been consistently good with fly and modern lure fishing tactics. For a couple of weeks the big fish were hard on the feed and our clients landed some great pike during this period on lures..

The biggest of the season so far goes to Piotr using light lure fishing tackle.

As fat as they get, this Pike was sitting under some of the largest shoals of Perch fry I have ever seen!

Chad managed a cracking first ever Pike on the fly.

A hard fighting Pike on fly…

Just look at the beautiful colouration on these Pike!

I managed a couple of short breaks myself including a three day trip to Iceland (report to follow soon). I also took a recent foray up to the Highlands with my partner. We were unlucky with the weather though and endured some spectacular wind and rainstorms, which put an end to the fishing, but made for some interesting photographs!

Tornado like wind storms up in the Highlands of Scotland

The summer fishing period in Scotland is coming to an end for 2016. With the arrival of Autumn we hit one of the best times of year to fish for all fresh water species in Scotland.
It is also one of the most beautiful seasons to be on the water with the leaves turning on the trees and misty mornings – I can’t wait!

Tight lines!

Callum Conner

Scotia Fishing Head Guide
SGAIC Qualified & Loop Tackle endorsed Instructor

Fishing Seasons in Scotland

March 27, 2016/in Educational Articles, News, Salmon, Trout Fishing/by Callum Conner

The Fishing season in Scotland differs from river to river, loch to loch and species to species. This can become problematic for visiting anglers. We have decided to list the full fishing seasons of Scotland in this post to help visiting anglers when planning their visit.

Our native Wild Brown Trout, one of the most popular targets in Scotland.

Trout Fishing season in Scotland

The traditional Trout fishing season runs from the 15th of March to 6th of October. Some fisheries (including the Tweed and Annan) have delayed their opening day until the 1st of April and end it earlier on the 30th of September. We can only presume this is to allow extra recovery time for the Trout and allow Salmon anglers more room during the peak back end period.

Stocked Rainbow Trout Fishing is available all year round, there is no closed season. The majority of Rainbow Trout are triploids (sexless), so they do not spawn in our waters and therefore do not require protecting.

Traditionally the Grayling season operates during winter, although nowadays many rivers offer year round fishing for this wonderful species.

Grayling Fishing Season in Scotland

In recent years the Grayling has become a much sought after quarry for the discerning fly-fisher, particularly during the trout closed season. Subsequently most grayling season permits on our rivers run during the closed season for Trout. Please note that on many rivers the Grayling can be targeted on a Trout permit but it is recommended not to specifically target them during their spawning and post spawn periods which is generally April & May.

River Tweed & Tributaries – Available from the 1st of December to 28th March.

River Annan – Available from 1st of December to 28th March.

River Tay & Tributaries – Available all year, although not recommended in April & May.

River Earn – Available from 15th of November to 15th January.

Atlantic Salmon fishing in Scotland is available 11 months of the year.

Salmon & Sea Trout Fishing Season in Scotland

The Salmon & Sea Trout (often referred to as migratory species) fishing season is more diverse and varies in Scotland from river to river. Over centuries the Salmon have adapted their survival strategy to suit their environment, migrating at different times of the year. Some of our river management systems recognised this and subsequently adapted the seasons to suit, offering the Salmon protection during vulnerable spawning and post spawn periods.

Here you can read the full Salmon Fishing Seasons in Scotland.

Pike – One of Scotland’s most popular coarse species target.

Coarse Fishing Season in Scotland

Coarse fishing is available all year round in Scotland, there is no closed season. Many lochs that allow Trout or Salmon fishing only distribute coarse fishing permits out-with the game fishing season. This is mainly to manage confusion over which species you are fishing for.

The main Coarse species that can be found in Scotland include: Perch, Pike, Roach, Rudd, Carp, Bream, Tench Chub & Ruffe.

Pollock can be targeted year-round in some areas of Scotland.

Sea Fishing Season in Scotland

The Sea fishing season in Scotland is like the coarse fishing season in that there is no closed period. Certain times of the year however suit different species and many can only be found during the warmer months. Sea fishing is also completely free in Scotland!

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